Spiritual Guerrero assists LAX, respects Vickie

BY JIM VARSALLONE
MiamiHerald.com

The Guerrero name is synonymous with excellence in pro wrestling. The Guerrero family is synonymous with integrity, respect, honesty and spirituality.

''My father [Gory] said a man should not be without God,'' said Total Nonstop Action announcer and LAX advisor Hector Guerrero of the famous wrestling family. ``The opportunities I have with TNA are by the graces of God.''

Hector, 53, along with talented brothers, Chavo, Mondo and the late, great Eddy, knows something about Latino pride and togetherness.

''TNA is a beautiful family, and it is a great place to work,'' he said. ``We want to have a great following throughout the world, letting people know they have a choice. They should have a choice.''

Hector, the color commentator for TNA's Spanish broadcast, gave stellar tag team LAX (Homicide and Hernandez) a choice after a rocky start with the tandem.

''It started as a confrontation when they were being led by a different person [Konnan] who I've respected for a long time, but he is not involved with LAX anymore. I am,'' Hector said. ``From that confrontation led to another confrontation which was seen on TV. Everything's been seen on TV. We made peace, and we came into an agreement where I would became a mentor to them, because they wanted to achieve something for the Latino nation.''

Under the guidance of Guerrero, LAX transformed from a talented heel contingent to a successful good guy persona, winning TNA tag team gold in each version.

''They touched my heart through the Guerrero family with my brother, Eddy,'' Hector said. ``They always wanted to be like Eddy, and my brother meant a lot, not only to the Latino nation but just a lot to the wrestling world. If God gives me an opportunity to do something like this, and if I can be a little shadow of my brother or my dad -- who were good men and I say that because they had a lot of God in them -- in the fine tuning of what a great team they already were, then all I'm doing is giving them an understanding of a different way to do their expertise, because they are experts at what they do.

``They are a great, great tag team. You have the strength and power of Hernandez and the agility of him, too. Homicide, I call him homey, has all these great moves and the quickness of a Latino and the fire and spirit of one, too. You have the complete combination of heart, spirit and eagerness to win. All they needed was a different look to help themselves so they could achieve what they could achieve, and that, by the grace of God, is what I was given an opportunity to do.''

Hector is not the only Guerrero on television. Nephew, Chavo Jr., is a WWE star, and former sister-in-law, Vickie, who was married to Eddy, is the general manger of WWE SmackDown! and on-screen love interest of Edge.

Hector has lost contact with Vickie.

''Vickie Guerrero is not Vickie Guerrero anymore,'' Hector said. ``She is Vickie Lara. Till death do us part. She was in love with Eddy and he with her. She went into seclusion, and I can respect that.''

He added, ``We know why she kept the family name, but she's not reached out to us. She is loved by us, and we wish her the best. We just wish should we love us back and return the gesture of communication.''

• Hector won tag team gold with brothers Chavo, Mando and Eddy as well as Steve Regal, Black Gordman and Barry O Orton.

He was the WWE's Gobbly Gooker and wore a mask, becoming Lazer Tron for the NWA: Jim Crockett Promotions.

In Florida, he won the Florida heavyweight and junior heavyweight titles. He was once managed by Sir Oliver Rooster Humperdink.

Born in Mexico City, he currently resides in Tampa.

• Hector shares some spiritual words: 'We don't have any goodness in ourselves. That comes from God. `Retched man that I am.' That's what Paul said in the Bible in Romans. Well, we're all retched. We're all twisted, meaning if there's anything good, it comes from God.

``This career how does that compare to eternity or what we were really called to be. We're all called to be sons and daughters of God. That's the way it's been from the beginning. That's never been changed. That's the way it was with Adam until he fell. Through the fall and through the redemption at the cross, we have that choice, because it is a choice. He doesn't push it on us. We come back into what we are supposed to be, which are sons and daughters of God.''